Manziel’s litany of issues -- which included a stint in rehab during the past offseason -- climaxed last week when it was reported he was in Las Vegas gambling and missed a meeting with Browns medical staffers as part of him being under the NFL’s concussion protocol.

"I'm trying to get ahold of Johnny Manziel, and I'm going to tell that boy, 'You need to get on Antabuse,'" Roberts told Rolling Stone, referring to a medication that makes people violently ill when they consume alcohol. "I understand where his head is at. I understand what it is to be Jake the Snake, or Johnny Football. You got all of these expectations from other people. Not just yourself, but other people. You start being the party guy for them."

Roberts knows something about mentoring. In late 2012, former world champion wrestler Diamond Dallas Page brought Roberts to his suburban Atlanta home and used his DDP Yoga exercise system as part of a process to get Roberts clean.

Roberts progressed to the point where he and Page later brought troubled ex-grappler Scott Hall into the home. Both Roberts and Hall were elected into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014 after years of questions about whether their personal demons would keep them from enshrinement. Now Roberts thinks he can have a similar effect on Manziel.